After I had taken down the boar, I brought it back to my campfire, which had burned out by now. I realized it was getting dark, so I collected some sticks and set up another fire. Then I looked for a sharp stone and used it to cut open the boar's belly. After that, I took pieces of meat, skewered them on sticks, and cooked them over the fire. I repeated this process until I had 13 meat skewers.
When the first one was ready, I started eating. The flavor was strong, as you'd expect from wild meat, but it was much better than going hungry.
Suddenly, I heard rustling in the bushes, the same ones the boar had come from. But this time, it wasn't an animal; it was a man. He approached my camp, a tall guy around 1.80 meters in his twenties. He had a handsome but forgettable face, gray hair, and dark brown eyes. He wore an expensive-looking Egyptian blue tailcoat with peacock feather patterns at the end. Something about him gave me a bad feeling.
"Good evening, young man. I was traveling, and it got dark before I knew it. Vermillion really has shorter daylight hours. Would it be too rude to ask for some food or at least to share your fire?"
His clothes looked fancy, but for a traveler, they were too clean. I couldn't think of a reason for him to want to eat this poorly cooked wild meat, but my gut told me refusing might not be wise.
"No problem, help yourself."
"Thank you, but I have to admit, I wasn't expecting such politeness."
"I don't blame you. I'm just a kid eating unseasoned boar meat in the middle of the forest, and my clothes are a mess. But if you don't mind me asking, who are you? You don't seem like the type to be out here eating this kind of food."
"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. People call me Peacock, and I come from Invernia, one of the four nations of the North Union. I'm in Vermillion for some business, but I got lost and ended up here."
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"Pleased to meet you. I'm Allen, just a regular 7-year-old orphan with nothing special. If you're headed to Roberta city, don't worry; it's not far from here."
"That's great news. That's exactly where I'm heading. But where I come from, a 7-year-old orphan who caught a boar alone isn't common. Is that normal around here?"
"To be honest, I don't really know. When the boar started chasing me, I put all my strength into my legs to run, but I somehow moved 50 meters in an instant. Then I punched it, and, well, you saw the result. But I have no idea how I became so strong."
"I think that might be the Hercules Bless."
"Hercules Bless?"
-Yes, you see, in this world, some people are born with special traits, like skills or a mana attribute, but some also are born with a physical prowess superior to what they should have, and to that condition, we call it the Hercules Bless. There are a lot of different Hercules Blesses, some stronger and others weaker. We evaluate them with the number of times your physicality is superior to what it should be. For example, let's think about two persons with the exact same physique, one is normal, and the other has a Hercules Bless 2x, the normal can lift 50 kilos, but the one with the Hercules Bless can lift 100 kilos. The stamina, weight, and height don't change with this condition. However, if you have 3 times the strength you should have, then you will also get tired 3 times slower doing the same thing. However, if you triple the dose of work, you will get tired as fast as a normal person doing that task. Sorry, you probably didn't really understand much of what I said with all the numbers and units of measurement.
"No, I understand. Basically, my strength and physical abilities are multiplied, allowing me to do things that would be impossible for someone with the same body but without the blessing."
"Exactly. Are you sure you're just a regular 7-year-old orphan? Most kids your age wouldn't grasp all this."
"Well, let's just say I didn't until recently."
"You're quite the mystery."
"And you don't seem like an open book either."
"Fair enough."
We finished eating, and Peacock stood up.
-Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. Then shall I repay your courtesy...
Suddenly, a roar came from behind us. Another visitor had arrived, but this time it wasn't a person or an animal; it was a massive bat-like creature, around 6 meters tall. A monster.